Finland Location:
Physical. Finland is located in Northern Europe, bordering Norway to the north, Russia to the east, the Gulf of Finland to the south, and the Gulf of Bothnia and Sweden to the west. It covers an area slightly smaller than Montana. The climate is cold temperate and could be sub arctic, but is moderated due to the influence of Finland’s lakes, the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic Current. Finland is mostly composed of low, flat to rolling plains, which are interspersed with lakes and low hills. Natural resources include timber, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromite, nickel, gold, silver and limestone.
Finland Geography:
Geography
Area: 338,145 sq km
Capital: Helsinki (population 560,000)
Environmental concerns: acid rain from manufacturing and power plants air pollution; water pollution from industrial wastes, agricultural chemicals; wildlife habitat loss
Geographical features: mostly low, flat to rolling plains interspersed with lakes and low hills
Climate: cold temperate; potentially subarctic potential moderated by the North Atlantic Current, Baltic Sea, and more than 60,000 lakes
Finland People:
People. More than 5,231,000 people live in Finland. They recognize both Finnish and Swedish as their official languages with small Lapp and Russian-speaking minorities. Ethnically, the country is composed of Finns (93%), Swedes (6%), with 1% comprised of other ethnic groups. The religious make-up is as follows: Lutheran National Church (84%), and none or other (16%).
5,231,000 (July 2006 est.); Finn (93%), Swede (6%), other (1%)
Annual growth rate: 0.14%
Major languages are Finnish (92% - official), Swedish (6% - official), other (2% - small Sami- and Russian-speaking minorities) (2003)
Religions: Lutheran National Church (84%), Greek Orthodox in Finland (1%), other Christian (1%), none (15%)
Finland Government:
Government. The country is officially known as the Republic of Finland and is comprised of 12 provinces. Its capital, Helsinki, is located near the southernmost point of the country along the Gulf of Finland coastline. Finland celebrates its independence from Russia on December 6 (1917). Its constitution was put into effect on July 17, 1919. The president is elected by popular vote to a six-year term. Its seven major parties and their supporters are spread throughout 6 provinces or laanit. While some groups in Finland dispute border issues with Russia, the government makes no claims.
Finland Communication:
Communication and transportation
2.368 million (2004 est.) main telephone lines
3.286 million Internet users (2005)
78,168 km of roadways
5,851 km railroads
148 airfields
2,231,000 motor vehicles (2004)
Finland Economy:
Economy. Finland has a highly industrialized, largely free-market economy; with per capita output roughly that of the UK, France, Germany and Italy. Its key economic sector is manufacturing, principally the wood, metals, engineering, telecommunications and electronics industries. Trade is important, with exports equaling almost two-fifths of GDP. Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imports of raw materials, energy and some components for manufactured goods. Because of the climate, agricultural development is limited to maintaining self-sufficiency in basic products. Forestry, an important export earner, provides a secondary occupation for the rural population. Finland was the only Nordic country joining the euro monetary system (EMU) on January 1, 1999 and integration with the European economy will dominate the economic picture for Finland over the next few years. High unemployment (7.9%) remains a persistent problem. Its GDP is broken down as follows: Agriculture (3%), industry (30%) services (67%) (2005 est.).
Economy
Currency: euro
Per capita GDP: $30,900 (2005 est.)
GDP: $161.5 billion (2005 est.)
GDP growth rate: 2.2% (2005 est.)
Inflation rate: 1.2% (2005 est.)
Labor force: agriculture and forestry (8%), industry (22%), construction (6%), commerce (14%), finance, insurance, and business services (10%), transport and communications (8%), public services (32%)
Finland More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland
http://www.siba.fi/eng/info/finland/ | 
